2024 Dean's Report

KAY M. PALAN
Dean, Culverhouse College of Business

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

At the Culverhouse College of Business, we work tirelessly to make an impact, not just on the lives and future careers of our students, but on our community and on the state of Alabama at large. For instance, over the past several years, Culverhouse has partnered with the historic Black Belt city of Selma, Alabama, to aid in economic revitalization through consulting and establishing partnerships. Recently, UA and Culverhouse faculty, staff, and students played a pivotal role in the opening of Selma Roots, a thrift store and community center where residents can access essential goods, resources, and support. And last summer, Culverhouse hired Selma native Preston McGee (BS, 2023; MBA, 2024) to lead outreach efforts in the city.

That’s just one example of the kinds of outreach work we do through our Culverhouse centers. Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) trains students of underrepresented groups for real estate careers through Career Opportunities in Real Estate (CORE). Our Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) is working to increase labor force participation in Alabama. And Alabama Productivity Center (APC) consults with companies throughout the state to minimize waste and maximize profit, while employing and training student interns at the same time (and with an 87% hire rate, it’s the best internship program in the state of Alabama). The list could go on.

On campus, we never lose sight of our primary responsibility to teach and advance the field of business. Ten of our faculty were recently listed on the prestigious “World’s Top 2% Cited Researcher List” compiled by Stanford University, a list that acknowledges the most influential researchers across various scientific disciplines. But our faculty also teach over 10,000 students: The largest college on the UA campus, Culverhouse has the privilege of teaching about one in four University of Alabama students.

As we again maintained our standing this past year in national rankings like U.S. News & World Report’s top business schools — 31st among all publics and 53rd overall — we continue to strive to deliver a world-class b-school experience for students who want to positively impact the world. But we can always use your help. We need partners. We need you, our alums and friends of the College, to get involved. With your help, we can double our impact. Have some ideas about how you would like to get involved, or just want to catch up? My door is always open.

Thanks, and Roll Tide!

Dean Kay M. Palan
kay.palan@culverhouse.ua.edu
Culverhouse College of Business
The University of Alabama

2022 - 2027 STRATEGIC PLAN

Learn more about our mission, vision, and goals

ACADEMICS AT THE VANGUARD

NEW REAL ESTATE MAJOR

Culverhouse College of Business boasts one of the largest real estate programs in the nation, with students from almost every U.S. state. In 2024, Culverhouse’s real estate minor served over 900 students, a 300% increase in the last five years. And the real estate focus area remains a popular track for Manderson MBA, STEM MBA, and MS in finance students, allowing them to earn equivalency educational credit towards the prestigious CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) and MAI (Appraisal Institute) professional designations. The next logical step? In fall 2025, Culverhouse launches an undergraduate major in real estate, which will help Culverhouse’s real estate program become one of the most comprehensive in the United States.

NEW GRADUATE CERTIFICATES

Also debuting in fall 2025 are five new graduate certificate programs within the Manderson Graduate School of Business at Culverhouse. Graduate certificates are an excellent way to gain marketable skills without investing in an entire graduate degree. Our graduate certificates allow students to explore a potential area of interest — and gain credits toward a possible degree.

Business Cyber Security
The business cyber security graduate certificate program grounds students in cyber security within business and organizational settings. Graduates will also be prepared for the applied practices of network security, application security, threat detection analysis, prevention, and remediation.

Data Analytics
The data analytics graduate certificate program introduces students to statistical data analysis in business. Graduates will be prepared to support effective decision-making and improve the strategic planning of their chosen firms.

Digital & Social Media
The digital/social media marketing certificate program is a deep dive into the world of digital marketing, including marketing and digital/social media marketing strategy, digital marketing analytics, and advanced digital marketing. Students will emerge ready to contribute to the digital marketing efforts of firms in nearly every industry.

Information Systems Solutions
The information systems solutions graduate certificate program introduces students to the practices of defining, creating, and deploying systems that serve organizations. This includes both planning and managing systems projects and making direct technical contributions to those systems.

Supply Chain Analytics
The supply chain analytics graduate certificate program trains students in the complex relationships involved in a supply chain and techniques related to their analysis. They learn to properly identify, evaluate, and analyze supply chain issues, supporting effective decision-making in their firms.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

9,839 ENROLLED
$66,489 AVG STARTING SALARY
95% PLACEMENT RATE

MANDERSON GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

600 ENROLLED, INCLUDING PHD
$86,380 AVG FIRST YEAR COMP (MBA)
90% PLACEMENT RATE (MBA)

#1 in Alabama

UTD Research Rankings

At Culverhouse, we value research, and it shows.

The past year was the third year of Culverhouse being ranked in the UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings list, which ranks business schools by their contributions to research. Culverhouse climbed in the rankings from 88th to 87th place in North America. Culverhouse is also the only institution on the list in Alabama.

In February, AACSB International (AACSB) — the world’s largest business education alliance and the body that accredits business schools — announced that a program managed by the Institute of Data and Analytics at Culverhouse was included as one of its Innovations That Inspire for 2024.

The Institute of Data and Analytics' (IDA) efforts to combat the opioid crisis using data-driven collaborative approaches was selected by AACSB as one of the unique ways business schools leverage innovation to drive new value for the communities they serve. Only 26 institutions from around the world made the list.

Research at Culverhouse

Discover more about Culverhouse's research and outreach enterprise in our most recent research impact report.

Read the Report

Recent Rankings

#31

Public B-School

U.S. News & World Report

#7

Best Public Online Bachelor’s

U.S. News & World Report

#25

Best Online Master’s Overall

U.S. News & World Report

#29

Public MBA

U.S. News & World Report

More Culverhouse Points of Pride

CENTER SPOTLIGHT

CENTER FOR BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH

Housed within the Culverhouse College of Business, the Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) conducts research focused on the Alabama economy and leads data-focused outreach activities for Alabama and Alabama citizens. Through this research, which it has done for nearly 100 years, CBER supports decision-making for a range of stakeholders including government agencies, academic institutions, private companies, financial institutions, the media, and other organizations.

Some examples of this work are economic impact and policy analyses, economic and workforce development reports, transportation corridor studies, and environmental economics and environmental justice analyses. CBER also works with the Alabama State Data Center (ASDC) to provide information like socioeconomic data collection and analysis, economic and demographic forecasts and projections, and area profiles and economic development tools. Finally, CBER conducts survey-based research, including the Capstone Poll, and assists with sponsored research services for Culverhouse faculty and staff as well as other selected outreach projects and programs of the College.

CASE STUDY

CHAMBERS COUNTY STRONG

A half million more credentialed workers by 2025: That is the chief goal of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey’s Success Plus plan, which uses labor market data to align the state’s educational institutions with careers in high-demand fields.

However, according to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, only 45.9% of 2022 high school graduates enrolled in a two or four-year institution. CBER researchers are helping meet this goal by participating in a grant-funded pilot research project in the eastern edge of the state in Chambers County to identify and reduce factors that result in people not entering the labor market. By addressing the gaps that occur at the beginning of the talent pipeline and providing a safety net of local and state resources, the project aims to increase the labor force participation rate in the county.

To demonstrate the success of the project, the students must enroll, enlist, or be employed after graduation. Students, especially those that do not enroll in college, are extremely difficult to track upon graduation, so a large part of the project is to develop relationships and connections with the students. As the CBER researchers develop these relationships, they teach and reinforce many of the topics for success in the workplace, like financial literacy including poverty simulation, work etiquette, assertiveness, and professional dress.

PUBLICATIONS ISSUED
Alabama Economic Outlook
Alabama Business Quarterly
Alabama Business Confidence Index
Alabama State Data Center Newsletter

Discover more about CBER

COMMITMENT TO
CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Business LEAD, Culverhouse’s required professional development and engagement program, readies students for employer and workplace expectations through a holistic, competency-based approach.

TOP 10 EMPLOYERS

Undergraduate, May 2023

Lockheed Martin
Ernst & Young (EY)
AT&T
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
Tom James Company
Dell Technologies
Insight Global
Regions Bank

TOP 10 DESTINATIONS AFTER GRADUATION

Undergraduate, May 2023

Alabama
Texas
Georgia
Tennessee
Florida
New York
Illinois
North Carolina
California
Virginia/New Jersey

*All data above represents AY 2023-2024

FUNDING THE FUTURE

The Rising Tide 2.0, the $1.8 billion campaign for The University of Alabama, is focused on furthering UA’s mission of exemplary teaching, research, and service. Culverhouse’s target as part of Rising Tide is $200 million in order to support efforts to transform learning, society, and thought leadership within the College. We are grateful for the increased support over the past year from our generous donors.

$175,393,273

Total Culverhouse Gifts and Contributions
October 1, 2016 - August 24, 2024

$200M CAMPAIGN GOAL | 88% TO GOAL
6,340 TOTAL DONORS

FOR 2023-2024
$33 MILLION IN GIFTS | 1,578 DONORS
$22 MILLION FOR SCHOLARSHIPS
$8 MILLION FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND UA BUSINESS LEAD